KANSAS CITY, Mo. – NASCAR Cup Collection drivers hit the observe for the primary time on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, with observe and qualifying periods falling in consecutive order.
However earlier than drivers can hit the observe, weeks of preparation are crucial to verify the vehicles and drivers are able to go.
“Whether or not it’s with the workforce, with all 4 groups, with the producer, we attempt to correlate into the simulator. Now we have quite a lot of various things we do,” stated Alex Bowman, driver of the 48 automobile. “There’s quite a lot of layers of preparation. It’s a well-oiled machine to maintain this factor rolling.”
Some drivers, like John Hunter Nemechek, are exhausting at work off observe.
“There’s quite a lot of finding out for certain going into every race weekend,” Nemechek stated. “In contrast to different sports activities, we are able to’t exit in our yard and throw a soccer or baseball or no matter it might be. So, we present as much as the racetrack, 20 minutes of observe, straight into qualifying, after which the race.”
Different drivers, like Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, depend on really feel and expertise to achieve success.
“Normally, the tracks I’m going to are tracks that I’m aware of and have a very good understanding of what it takes within the automobile or strains and stuff,” Larson stated in a press convention Saturday. “So, it doesn’t make finding out tremendous in-depth.”
Drivers like Larson select to drive in different racing collection to assist their preparation. William Byron, driver of the 24 Chevrolet, is driving in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Collection race on Saturday evening.
“I believe it’s a giant benefit in the event you use it accurately,” Byron stated. “You simply have to enter with the precise mindset and hopefully, you already know, it’ll be quite a lot of enjoyable.”
His teammate, Chase Elliott, says being on a NASCAR workforce is a marathon every year.
“It’s each week,” Elliott stated. “You already know, it’s an enormous enterprise to try this and particularly to do it at a aggressive stage. Our schedule is such a grind, proper? You already know, you bought 38 weeks of being on the highway and this yr, solely the one off-weekend, you already know, from February to November, which is simply it’s quite a lot of work.”
Elliott is aware of how many individuals it takes to win; he gained the NASCAR Cup Collection championship in 2020.
“It requires all people to be all in,” Elliott stated. “And the folks on the store or the blokes and women that journey, you already know, on a weekly foundation, no matter what your function is, it’s a grind. It’s a marathon.”
Defending Cup collection champion Joey Logano says whereas the spring race at Kansas Speedway is essential, there’s extra on the road when the collection returns.
“This turns into a vital race within the fall,” Logano stated. “Not that it’s not this time, however there’s going to be much more on the road whenever you come again right here as a result of it hopefully means you’re within the playoffs.”
The Creation Well being 400 begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
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